GNU bug report logs - #57613
grep man page tries to rewrite POSIX history

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From: help-debbugs <at> gnu.org (GNU bug Tracking System)
To: Geoff Clare <gwc <at> opengroup.org>
Subject: bug#57613: closed (Re: bug#57613: grep man page tries to rewrite
 POSIX history)
Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2022 19:29:02 +0000

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Your bug report

#57613: grep man page tries to rewrite POSIX history

which was filed against the grep package, has been closed.

The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
If you require more details, please reply to 57613 <at> debbugs.gnu.org.

-- 
57613: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=57613
GNU Bug Tracking System
Contact help-debbugs <at> gnu.org with problems

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From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Geoff Clare <gwc <at> opengroup.org>
Cc: 57613-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#57613: grep man page tries to rewrite POSIX history
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2022 14:28:12 -0500

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On 9/6/22 07:28, Geoff Clare wrote:
> They were included in POSIX.2-1992 but marked as obsolescent.

Ouch, as I recall reading POSIX.2-1992 and seeing egrep and fgrep 
mentioned, but not as part of the standard. I guess I misread the 
standard. I am away from my printed copy and so cannot easily check this 
now.

I installed the attached which I hope clears this up.

[0001-Fix-obsolescence-doc-for-egrep-fgrep.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

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From: Geoff Clare <gwc <at> opengroup.org>
To: bug-grep <at> gnu.org
Subject: grep man page tries to rewrite POSIX history
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2022 13:28:37 +0100

The grep 3.8 man page at https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/grep.html says, under "What happened to egrep and fgrep?":

egrep and fgrep were not standardized by POSIX

This is factually incorrect. They were included in POSIX.2-1992 but marked as obsolescent. When POSIX.2-1992 and POSIX.1-1996 were merged (along with the Single UNIX Specification) to form POSIX.1-2001, the obsolescent features from POSIX.2-1992 were removed.

Suggested fix - change:

egrep and fgrep were not standardized by POSIX and are no longer needed

to:

egrep and fgrep were marked obsolescent when they were standardized by POSIX in 1992 and were removed in the 2001 revision; they have long been deprecated by GNU.

(I have it second hand that the GNU deprecation occurred in 2007; you could give that date instead of saying "long" if you can confirm it.)

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